A naturalist's wanderings in the Eastern Archipelago Book

It's fine as a bedside book (or a bathroom reader for lunatics who entrust books to people visiting their toilet).

The lack of sourcing for the facts listed is sometimes troublesome, as several do strain credulity.

I have read rumors that Asimov didn't really write this title, but in the introduction he claims that he "compiled and edited it". In his biographies he was frank about his processes for anthologizing and writing introductions for science fiction short story collections (of his own work and that of other authors), so I'm not sure how much weight to lend such rumors. It's possible some of it was constructed by college interns, for instance, but much of the material seems to reflect Asimov's own interests, particularly in the history of science.

I was able to pick this up really cheap at a used bookstore. I wouldn't recommend paying much for it; it's just a candy bar--but moderately nutritious as candy bars go.